Pinball The Man Who Saved The Game: An Unexpected Delight

Summary

Telling the story of the man who overturned New York City’s ban on pinball.

I thought this was a tremendously fun film. I personally don’t really care at all about pinball, but this film had me rooting for the ban to be overturned. It is hard to put it into words but there is something special and winning about this film, it managed to play with my heart in a way I wasn’t expecting it to whilst also making me laugh every step of the way.

On the subject of comedy, I particularly enjoyed the meta jokes wherein the walls of the film where broken down and the narrator of the tale came in and addressed us directly. There was a good number of funny lines delivered by Mr Sharp, played by Dennis Boutsikaris, as he clashed with the wider team behind the scenes.

However, what I will say was the films strongest element was the story of Roger, played by Mike Faist [and playing within the narrative of the film a young version of Mr Sharp], and his relationship with Ellen, played by Crystal Reed, and her son, played by Christopher Convery. I think this is one of the best romantic pairings in a film I have seen in a long time and that both Faist and Reed have great chemistry together and that this is what anchors the film.

Overall, an unexpected treat which does what Tetris tried to do but bettered it.

4/5

Pros.

Faist

Boutsikaris

Reed

The humour and the heart

Cons.

It was a little rushed in places

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The Mandalorian: Guns For Hire

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Din, played by Pedro Pascal, and Bo-Katan, played by Katee Sackoff, head to a remote world to try and win over a Mandalorian fleet.

I thought the episode earlier in the season that ignored Din, Bo and Grogu was the worst episode of the show, but then this episode just came out of nowhere and blew that out of the water in terms of potential terribleness.

Where to begin.

I suppose the thing I hate, yes that’s right hate, about this episode was how goofy it was. Not only did it feel like a filler side quest, but it didn’t even feel like it fit into the tone of the show it was way too goofy and silly. It felt like fan fiction that Din and Bo had been placed into rather than an episode proper. I will admit some of the questions this episode raises around droid rights is slightly interesting but that by no means makes up for the rest of it.

Continuing on, I like Jack Black and have done since I was young, but he was entirely miscast here, as was Lizzo who only feels included because the older folks at Lucasfilm think the kids like her. There scenes were such terrible cringe that I couldn’t bare to watch them and skipped through them on my first viewing, only coming back for the purpose of review.

In addition though I like Bo-Katan a lot as a character and like that she is going to be the new leader of the Mandalorians, it is beginning to feel like Din is barely a part of his own show anymore as he barely gets a look in. I understand all of the Mandalore stuff is very important to the direction of Star Wars but I would like to see Din and Grogu go back off on their own for a while and leave the rest of it behind.

A final point I will note is that considering there is only a couple of episodes left before the finale this season doesn’t feel like its been building to anything, there is no ramping up of tension, I am not expecting much going forward from the show. I think Ezra and Thrawn will probably show up at the end of the season as the rumours say, but if the other rumours are true that they are going to kill off Din, then I think the show should end.

Overall, the worst episode of the show thus far.

1/5

Pros.

It is nice to see Bo-Katan getting another chance to rule

Cons.

It doesn’t fit tonally

It is stupid and goofy

Black and Lizzo don’t fit

Din is becoming a shadow in his own show

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Inside: Is He Trapped Or Are You?

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Willem Dafoe goes crazy after being locked in an apartment during an art heist.

I will give the film praise for its premise, the idea of a man having to survive trapped in someone else’s apartment with minimal food and water and no way out is an interesting idea. Seeing Dafoe’s character have to try and find ways to stay alive was fascinating, at first.

In a way this film would have made for a great short film, it has a strong premise and a good performance by Dafoe to anchor it. However, by stretching to feature length this film quickly becomes tedious, the pacing is so egregiously slow that you begin to feel like you too are being held prisoner, but in this case by a film that just won’t end.

Moreover, in a effort to try and pad out the runtime the final act of the film tries to go deeper and branches out into some pretty abstract territory, which I suppose reflects Dafoe’s characters descent into madness but also feels like art house twaddle masquerading as plot.

Overall, an interesting idea but one that should never have been stretched to feature length.

2/5

Pros.

Dafoe

The premise

Cons.

The pacing is awful

The art house third act really doesn’t come together

It is frustrating to watch

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Tetris: The Downfall Of The USSR

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The story behind bringing Tetris to Japan and also the Gameboy.

I do think there is an interesting story here, I think that the scenes in which the dialogue is quick paced and things and moving nicely along are engaging and that the wheeling and dealing aspects about this story are interesting. It is just that these aspects of the film are sandwiched in-between a hell of a lot of filler, exposition and needless asides.

I think that this film is really brutally paced, and could have done with being about half an hour shorter. I do think there is promise here but that it gets lost amongst a sea of needless scenes. This bad pacing makes the film hard to watch and engage with.

I think that Taron Egerton is doing his best to anchor this film, and does the whole plucky thing well, but he doesn’t show much range at all here and his performance is fairly one note. A plucky businessman who needs to make a deal happen. His character was somewhat hard to tell apart from any number of other characters he has played recently that have followed a similar role.

Overall, an interesting story but one that gets way too bogged down to be fun.

2.5/5

Pros.

The story itself is interesting

The wheeling dealing scenes are fun

The story of friendship is nice as well

Cons.

It is boring at times

Egerton

The pacing is brutal

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Murder Mystery 2: Adam Sandler’s Latest Holiday

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Adam Sandler goes on another holiday on Netflix’s dime.

As far as Sandler fare goes this is fairly passable. Whilst it is not his best film it certainly isn’t his worst either and as it stands it is quite a nice film to turn your brain off to and just space out. In a sense you could view it as the peak of escapism.

Sandler himself is toned down here, and whilst he does get into some whacky situations he is not as mean spirted as he is in some of his projects. I would dare say the earnestness of Jennifer Aniston’s performance works wonders to make Sandler more likeable. Aniston has great comedic timing here and her scenes where she is shooting people and is unexpectedly a great shot and is murdering people left right and centre by accident is actually funny.

In terms of the plot it is another convoluted mystery, but you aren’t here for that, no you just want to see Adam Sandler be Adam Sandler and the film gets that as it offers a plot that wraps up in a ridiculous way that makes little sense and doesn’t try to do anything else because it knows you don’t care.

Overall, a fun film to mindlessly watch, not much of an advance on that really.

3/5

Pros.

Aniston and her murdering skills

It does have some funny moments

It is very easy to watch

Cons.

The plot is convoluted

It feels very low energy

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Creed III: Why Talk About Your Issues When You Can Be Violent Instead?

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Adonis, played by Michael B. Jordan, has to beat up someone from his past.

I will lay this out right here at the start of the review, I am not a fan of boxing movies and the Creed films have always just to me felt incredibly repetitive. I watched this as I had heard good things, but it ended up being the same old structure rehashed. A new threat emerges, it is established as legitimate, they best or beat the hero in some way, then the hero beats them. It is tiresome and repetitive.

I thought the film really had something when it was discussing and Adonis and Damian, played by Jonathan Majors, were physically abused as kids. This would have allowed the film to talk about deeper themes that can’t just be solved by random violence, but guess what it all just devolves into a punchout. Adonis beat up the abuser when they were kids causing Damian to pull a gun to defend his friend and go to prison, now he’s out and angry and the only way to settle old trauma is with a fight. It is boring.

Despite him now being somewhat problematic Jonathan Majors is the best part about this film and acts circles around Jordan at every turn. I also thought that Tessa Thompson did a really good supporting turn here, and her emotions when Adonis’ mum dies feel very genuine.

Overall, yet another needless sequel that tells the same story we have seen done time and again.

2/5

Pros.

Thompson and Majors

It has a good soundtrack

Cons.

Jordan lacks any range

The story is repetitive

It is afraid of any kind of deeper conversation about violence

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Mummies: The Fight Back Against The British Museum

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A trio of mummies travel from their land of the dead into the human world.

It was nice to see an animated film that was a, not from Disney and b, didn’t feel incredibly American. It was nice that this film had more of a British feel to it, certainly it added a certain sense of charm that no doubt boosted my likelihood of enjoying the film.

I think Joe Thomas did a really good job of anchoring the film and was easily the best voice actor of the bunch, outside of Sean Bean as one could never surpass him. For the most part the voice cast was used well, it was strange that the female lead had a different voice for talking and singing and wider still that they used a white voice actor for the talking voice and an African American R and B artist for the singing voice, it feels problematic.

The songs for the most part aren’t good and feel like they were just added into boost the runtime of the film, which is very short even with them, the only one that was good, in my subjective opinion, was the final rendition of Walk Like An Egyptian.

Overall, a fine Easter holiday distraction for kids, with enough British charm to keep everyone interested.

3/5

Pros.

Thomas and Bean

It is funny

It certainly has British charm

Cons.

It is a noticeable different when the film swaps between the female leads talking voice and singing voice

The story feels very familiar

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Furies: Taking Back The Night In Saigon

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An abused young woman, played by Dong Anh Quynh, joins up with a female outfit dedicated to violently taking down the male dominated criminal underworld of Saigon.

In many senses I was expecting more from this film. I can’t speak to the film that this serves as a prequel to as I haven’t seen it, this was my first entry to the franchise. From the trailer I watched prior to viewing I was expecting beautifully choreographed brutal fight scenes, ala The Raid, but this was a million miles away from that. What surprised me the most in this regard is just how bloodless this film is, like you see people getting shot and stabbed but in terms of genre standards you don’t see much blood. Moreover, the action itself isn’t all that brutal as shots aren’t lingered on to their full effect, there are a lot of quick cuts to give off the illusion of rapid movement, but this isn’t in the films benefit.

Furthermore, the narrative of women getting their own back on evil men is nothing new. In a sense this film feels very similar to the rape revenge sub-genre but with a more action leaning. What’s more, there aren’t really any twists and turns to keep you guessing either, from a narrative lens everything is incredibly obvious and you are never in a position to be surprised. Even when you get the twist at the end you have already seen it coming.

Overall, a subpar action film that doesn’t deliver the goods.

2/5

Pros.

An introduction to Vietnamese cinema

A killer soundtrack

Cons.

The action is bloodless and often cut away from

The story is very pedestrian and familiar

It has pacing issues

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The Boston Strangler: Boston Has Never Looked So Washed Out And Grey

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The story of the Boston Strangler is rebirthed yet again to fit within the modern fad of true crime.

This film is serviceable, that is probably as much of a pro as I am going to give it. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with it, but if you view this alongside films like From Hell or Fincher’s Zodiac then you will see where it falls down.

Keira Knightley does all she can to save this film and her American accent is a thing to behold all its own, but it simply isn’t enough. The film takes what could be quite an interesting true crime story and drags it out and pads it until it is boring and you have long since stopped caring.

The film tries to address the sexism of the period, which we would all just assume is rampant anyway, but again doesn’t go anywhere with it beyond the standard, it was bad back then narrative. Although you can understand why the film does it, the more time it takes out to show us the homelife of Knightley’s character the more you tune out as people are hear for the grizzly crimes and the murder investigation not to learn more about Knightley’s characters strained relationship with her mother.

Overall, a crime thriller without any real bite. Bland at best.

2.5/5

Pros.

Knightley is trying her best

It has some good chills

When it is showing the actual investigation it is interesting

Cons.

Too much filler and padding

Brutal pacing issues

A wasted supporting cast

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Champions: Anyone Can Be A Hero

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Woody Harrelson plays a basketball coach who after getting into a drunk driving accident has to coach an intellectually disabled basketball team.

This film has its heart in the right place. Though some have said that it comes across as patronising towards intellectually disabled people or the issues they face, I found that despite its sometimes questionable messaging that this film was at its heart an uplifting film. Not only that but it goes out of its way to spread inclusivity and the message that anyone can be a champion and that people are so, so much more than how others classify them.

Moreover, I think Harrelson is just curmudgeonly enough to pull this role off. Though I think that the sudden change from this character being a self-interested narcissist to learning to love second place and to be happy with what he has was incredibly rushed. I think his performance commands real emotion and that he has great chemistry with his on-screen love interest played by Katlin Olsen.

The plot is incredibly cliched and generic and all the hallmarks of classic feel good sports films make an appearance, so much so that you could turn it into a bingo game fairly easily if you wanted to.

Overall, a happy uplifting film that doesn’t always land its’ the message.

3/5

Pros.

Harrelson

Olsen

It is uplifting and restores your faith in humanity

Cons.

It is incredibly cliched

It can come off as patronising at times

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